Bill Belichick’s arrival at the University of North Carolina was supposed to be the headline-grabbing, program-defining moment that would catapult the Tar Heels into college football’s elite. Instead, just five games into his first season in Chapel Hill, the six-time Super Bowl champion finds himself at the center of a swirling storm—one that’s equal parts on-field disaster and off-field controversy.
To say that expectations were sky-high when Belichick inked a five-year, $50 million deal with UNC in January 2025 would be an understatement. After all, the 73-year-old had built a dynasty in the NFL with the New England Patriots and brought two more rings from his days as a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants. But as the leaves turn in North Carolina, the only thing falling faster than the autumn foliage is the Tar Heels’ football stock.
The latest blow came this past Saturday at Kenan Memorial Stadium, where North Carolina suffered a humiliating 38-10 defeat at the hands of the Clemson Tigers. It was Belichick’s first ACC game—a milestone that quickly turned into a nightmare. Clemson wasted no time, racing out to a 28-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Tigers scored four touchdowns on their first 16 plays, leaving the Tar Heels’ defense gasping for air and the home crowd heading for the exits well before halftime. By the third quarter, with Clemson up 35-3, the stadium was a sea of empty seats, and the outcome was all but decided.
This loss marked the third time in just five games that UNC has fallen by 25 points or more. Even more damning, the Tar Heels remain winless against power-conference opponents (0-3), having been outscored 120-33 in those games. For a program that hoped Belichick’s NFL pedigree would translate to instant success, the results have been, frankly, a mess. As one UNC student, Anna Yi, told ESPN when recalling the season-opening loss to TCU, “That was one of the saddest feelings I’ve had in University so far. I’ve failed midterms before, so that’s saying something...”
UNC fans have not been shy about voicing their discontent. Social media lit up with criticism and mockery, with one fan on X posting, “Brady not around time to retire Bill.” Others suggested that Belichick’s legendary status was built on the backs of NFL stars like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, with one tweet reading, “Belichick should have retired when Tom Brady left town. He is tarnishing his legacy.” Another chimed in, “North Carolina is Belichick without Brady and Gronk.” The sentiment, echoed far and wide, is that the Hall of Fame coach’s transition to college football is quickly becoming infamous.
And it’s not just the scoreboard drawing ire. Off the field, Belichick’s decision-making has fueled even more controversy. In the wake of former Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye’s electrifying NFL performance on Sunday night—where Maye led the New England Patriots to a 23-20 victory over the Buffalo Bills with 273 passing yards and a clutch game-winning drive—UNC’s official football social media accounts were conspicuously silent. According to Ross Martin of 247Sports and CBS Sports, this was no oversight. “According to sources inside the UNC football program, it is a directive from the staff (Bill Belichick) to not tweet/retweet anything Patriots-related,” Martin reported. For a college program, highlighting the success of alumni in the NFL is a tried-and-true recruiting tool, and the silence was deafening.
This move, rooted in Belichick’s still-simmering feud with the Patriots organization, has left many scratching their heads. “At this point it is obvious that the Patriots are living rent-free in Belichick’s head,” one columnist wrote, adding that even a few seconds spent dwelling on his past is “too much” when the present is so dire. The Tar Heels are now in serious danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 2018, a prospect that would have seemed unthinkable when Belichick was hired just months ago.
So what’s gone wrong? For starters, Belichick’s NFL-style approach—where the coach’s word is law and the program comes first—hasn’t meshed well with the realities of modern college football. With new name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules and the ever-active transfer portal, players have more power than ever before. As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer noted on Patriots Pregame Live, “There are so many things that they have done there that fly in the face of what you should be doing to try to attract top talent.” He pointed out that the Tar Heels turned over 70 percent of their roster in the offseason, a move that’s left the team lacking chemistry and, clearly, results.
Speculation is now swirling about Belichick’s future in Chapel Hill. While a buyout after just one year would be expensive—thanks to his three guaranteed years at $10 million per season, plus up to $3.5 million in bonuses—some in the college football world believe UNC’s administration may have no choice but to consider it. “It’s something they have to look at,” Breer said. “You look at their roster and you say, ‘You turned over 70 percent of the roster and that’s where we’re getting beat on a week-to-week basis.’”
Meanwhile, Belichick’s decision to hire his own son to run the defense has drawn skepticism, especially as the unit has been repeatedly exposed. The Tar Heels’ struggles on both sides of the ball have fans and analysts alike wondering if the legendary coach is out of his depth in the college ranks. As one columnist quipped, “Super Bowl rings don’t mean squat on campus.”
For now, the Tar Heels have another week to regroup before traveling to face the California Golden Bears on October 17. But with the program’s bowl hopes fading and fan patience wearing thin, the pressure on Belichick has never been greater. The sense in Chapel Hill is that something has to give—and soon.
As the Tar Heels prepare for their next challenge, the question isn’t just whether Belichick can turn this season around. It’s whether his storied career will find a new chapter in college football, or if his tenure at UNC will be remembered as a cautionary tale of how even the greatest can stumble when the game changes around them.
